Musical Club concert raises funds to aid aspiring performers

Enlarge Image

supplied photo Charmaine Bacon

You often hear parents moaning about how expensive it is to enrol kids in hockey and other sports -- not just to register them but to keep up with their equipment needs as they grow, travel from arena to arena and send them to various skills-improvement camps.

Music studies can also run up quite the bill, particularly if a young person decides to make music their career. Requirements like lessons, master classes, books and sheet music continue for years and years, not to mention instrument costs and maybe music camps. Serious music students should also attend professional concerts regularly. Add it all up and this means a serious outlay of money and time.

Without this kind of investment there would be no future artists. Orchestras would cease to exist. Audiences would be relegated to old recordings rather than live performances.

The Women's Musical Club of Winnipeg (WMC) understands the importance of supporting young musicians. Its annual concert series is mainly made up of young up-and-coming artists, with a few who have already made it mixed in.

The WMC holds scholarship competitions annually. Every two years, they hold the Doris McLellan Competition (DMC) for Solo Performance with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. The next one is slated for spring 2012 with $15,000-$20,000 divided among three winners. The club is now in full fundraising mode to support this initiative.

"The Doris McLellan Competition is put on by Manitobans for Manitobans," said competition convenor, Carol Gamby. "It gives the winners a leg up with the prize money and a chance to play with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra."

The top prize winner not only receives $10,000, but also earns the invaluable experience of playing a solo concerto with the WSO.

"Student musicians often play concertos," said Gamby, "but they don't have the chance to play them with an orchestra."

Next Monday the WMC is holding a benefit concert to raise funds for the competition. It is at 7:30 p.m. in Westworth United Church, 1750 Grosvenor Ave. This is the second benefit concert of its kind the club has hosted. "In 2009 we raised $3,000," said Gamby. "We also have some regular donors and apply for grants and we hold a fundraising campaign from within our membership, including past and present board members."

The costs involved are not just for the scholarships themselves, but to run the event, rent the venue and pay the WSO for their services. "We hope to bring in national adjudicators," he said. "Since the competitors are all from Manitoba, the local musical community already knows them." National adjudicators can be more objective.

When Gamby put the call out for artists to donate their services for the benefit concert, she was delighted with the willingness of Winnipeg musicians. The roster includes WSO/Manitoba Chamber Orchestra (MCO) principal cellist Yuri Hooker, WSO associate concertmaster/MCO concertmaster Karl Stobbe and pianist/conductor Michelle Mourre, versatile mezzo-soprano Donnalynn Grills and pianist Donna Laube. As well, some of the WMC scholarship winners and Doris McLellan Competition alumni have volunteered their musical services. They include pianists Daniel Tselyakov, Nina Zhou and Rachel Hinton, cellist Sean Taubner, and flutists Garrett Hudson and Charmaine Bacon.

"It's a great opportunity to play alongside professional musicians in the community," said the 26-year-old Bacon, a past scholarship recipient. "It's interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes, and also give back a little bit to the WMC as they've helped me through competitions -- through valuable feedback from the panels, performance opportunities and of course, scholarship money.

"It's also helpful for a resumé to put performance experience and awards when just starting out your career, and the WMC has been a great one to put on mine. The name Women's Musical Club is recognized in Canada ... everyone involved with the process is incredibly attentive, and the ladies who run the WMC themselves have always taken an interest in me and made me feel valued."

There is a lovely selection of repertoire for the evening, including a Dvorak piano trio, Liszt's iconic Mephisto Waltz and an arrangement for two flutes of the gorgeous Flower Duet from Delibes' Lakmé.

Tickets are $20, available at McNally Robinson or at the door (cash or cheque only). Student tickets ($5) are only available at the door.

gwenda.nemerofsky@shaw.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 26, 2011 D6